"Bechstein pianos are like a breath on the soul: delicate, vital, essential and pure, like love at first sight."
Irene Russo
Praised by legendary Martha Argerich as "one of the best young musicians that I have ever heard in my life," pianist Irene Russo, born in 1974, appears on the greatest stages and is considered one of the most interesting pianists of her generation. She has studied in Imola with Alexander Lonquich and Lazar Berman as well as with Alicia de Larrocha in Barcelona.
In 2000, she won the Clara Schumann Piano Competition, where Martha Aregreich, Nelson Freire, Joachim Kaiser and Maria Tipo were among the circle of internationally known jurors. Subsequently, at the invitation of the Argerich Foundation, Irene Russo performed her debut at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. In 2002, she was distinguished at the ARD Music Competition with the special prize for the best interpretation of contemporary music. Since beginning her international career in 1993 in Sydney, Irene Russo has performed in Canada, throughout Europe, Latin America, Middle East and the USA. In 2008, at the International Keyboard Institute & Festival in New York, she received the Dorothy MacKenzie Award and the C. Bechstein Special Prize. Irene Russo is professor at the Koeniglichen Konservatorium in Antwerp and at the Steffani Conservatory in Venice. After her concert at the C. Bechstein Klavierabend in 2009 she wrote: "It was a delight to perform a concert on one of the most wonderful Grand Pianos I ever played. Thank you Bechstein, it was a pleasure for me!"
Photo: © Irene Russo
